Golden Seed


Moriori To fight or to die? The questions is plain. Te Awapatiki. Would we do it again? To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. Rekohu’s children Were killed and enslaved They shall never feel ashamed To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. Their honour shall enfold them As luminous light For the good of their standards They didn’t fight To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. So take me my Lord When it does suit You For thence You will take us And reward us with your truth To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. To die for Mana Is not to die in vain. (Ends with the sound of the sea which is most holy for the Moriori, their traditional method of burial was to tie the corpse on top of a sand dune looking out to sea...) Song Moriori is very special to me. It is about the story of the Moriori (indigenous people) of the Chatham Islands. It is a very big story but basically this beautiful peaceful nomadic culture of people where nearly wiped out by the Maori on New Zealand in 1835. The Moriori could have found off the Maori and won as they out numbered the force of warriors who came from the mainland on of New Zealand to their Island, but they kept to their spiritual ways and did not fight. I can tell you more about this most beautiful culture some time… This song uses some words from the Moriori Language: Te Awapatiki = The holy place on the Island where the Moriori took council in 1835 and talked for three days before deciding not to fight off the invaders. Literal translation “The running of the flounder” It was their meeting place as there was always many fish called flounder available for the large number of people meeting there... Mana = spiritual betterment, or spiritual powers, Literal translation “Spiritual worth or honour” so in this context is meant that those many Moriori who were killed and ritually eaten by the Maori, went to the other world with their great spiritual power intact. Rekohu = the Moriori name for The Chatham Islands. Means “Island of the mist”

Moriori

To fight or to die?
The questions is plain.
Te Awapatiki.
Would we do it again?

To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.
To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.

Rekohu’s children
Were killed and enslaved
They shall never feel ashamed

To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.
To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.

Their honour shall enfold them
As luminous light
For the good of their standards
They didn’t fight

To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.
To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.

So take me my Lord
When it does suit You
For thence You will take us
And reward us with your truth

To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.
To die for Mana
Is not to die in vain.

(Ends with the sound of the sea which is most holy for the Moriori, their traditional method of burial was to tie the corpse on top of a sand dune looking out to sea...)

Song Moriori is very special to me. It is about the story of the Moriori (indigenous people) of the Chatham Islands. It is a very big story but basically this beautiful peaceful nomadic culture of people where nearly wiped out by the Maori on New Zealand in 1835. The Moriori could have found off the Maori and won as they out numbered the force of warriors who came from the mainland on of New Zealand to their Island, but they kept to their spiritual ways and did not fight. I can tell you more about this most beautiful culture some time…

This song uses some words from the Moriori Language:

Te Awapatiki = The holy place on the Island where the Moriori took council in 1835 and talked for three days before deciding not to fight off the invaders. Literal translation “The running of the flounder” It was their meeting place as there was always many fish called flounder available for the large number of people meeting there...

Mana = spiritual betterment, or spiritual powers, Literal translation “Spiritual worth or honour” so in this context is meant that those many Moriori who were killed and ritually eaten by the Maori, went to the other world with their great spiritual power intact.

Rekohu = the Moriori name for The Chatham Islands. Means “Island of the mist”